(Vol. VII)
Diodorus Siculus
Library of History

(Book XVI, continued)

p347401 When Theellus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Marcus Fabius and Titus Quintius. During their term of office the Thebans, growing weary of the war against the Phocians and finding himself short of funds, sent ambassadors to the King of the Persians urging him to furnish the
p349city with a large sum of money. 2 Artaxerxes, readily acceding to the request, made a gift to them of three hundred talents of silver.1 Between the Boeotians and the Phocians skirmishes and raids on each other's territory occurred but no actions worth mentioning took place during this year.

3 In Asia the King of the Persians, who had in the period treated above made an expedition into Egypt with vast multitudes of soldiers and was unsuccessful, made war on the Egyptians and, after carrying out some remarkable feats by his own forceful activity, regained possession of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus.24 To make clear the history of these events I shall set forth first the causes of the war by reviewing again briefly the period to which these events properly belong. We recall that, when the Egyptians revolted from the Persians in the earlier period, Artaxerxes, known as Ochus,3 himself unwarlike, remained inactive, and though he sent out armies and generals many times, failed in his attempts because of the cowardice and inexperience of the leaders. 5 And so, though regarded with contempt by the Egyptians, he was compelled to be patient because of his own inertia and peace-loving nature. But in the period now under discussion, when the Phoenicians and the kings in Cyprus had imitated the Egyptians and in contemptuous
p351disregard of him made a move to revolt, he became enraged and decided to make war upon the insurgents. 6 So he rejected the practice of sending out generals, and adopted the plan of carrying out in person the struggles to preserve his kingdom. Wherefore, having made great provision of arms, missiles, food, and forces, he assembled three hundred thousand foot-soldiers, thirty thousand horsemen, three hundred triremes, and five hundred merchantmen and other ships to carry the supplies.

411 He began to make war also on the Phoenicians for the following reasons. In Phoenicia there is an important city called Tripolis, whose name is appropriate to its nature, for there are in it three cities, at a distance of a stade from one another, and the names by which these are called are the city of the Aradians, of the Sidonians, and of the Tyrians. This city enjoys the highest repute amongst the cities of Phoenicia, for there, as it happens, the Phoenicians held their common council and deliberated on matters of supreme importance. 2 Now since the King's satraps and generals dwelt in the city of the Sidonians and behaved in an outrageous and high-handed fashion toward the Sidonians in ordering things to be done, the victims of this treatment, aggrieved by their insolence, decided to revolt from the Persians. 3 Having persuaded the rest of the Phoenicians to make a bid for their independence,4 they sent ambassadors to the Egyptian king Nectanebôs, who was an enemy of the Persians, and after persuading him to accept them as allies they began to make preparations for the war. 4 Inasmuch as Sidon was distinguished for its wealth and its private citizens
p353had amassed great riches from its shipping, many triremes were quickly outfitted and a multitude of mercenaries gathered, and, besides, arms, missiles, food, and all other materials useful in war were provided with dispatch. 5 The first hostile act was the cutting down and destroying of the royal park in which the Persian Kings were wont to take their recreation; the second was the burning of the fodder for the horses which had been stored up by the satraps for the war; last of all they arrested such Persians as had committed the acts of insolence and wreaked vengeance upon them. 6 Such was the beginning of the war with the Phoenicians, and Artaxerxes, being apprised of the rash acts of the insurgents, issued threatening warnings to all the Phoenicians and in particular to the people of Sidon.

421 In Babylon the King, after assembling his infantry and cavalry forces, immediately assumed command of them and advanced against the Phoenicians. While he was still on his way, Belesys, the satrap of Syria, and Mazaeus, the governor of Cilicia, having joined forces, opened the war against the Phoenicians. 2 Tennes, the king of Sidon, acquired from the Egyptians four thousand Greek mercenary soldiers whose general was Mentor the Rhodian. With these and the citizen soldiery he engaged the aforementioned satraps, defeated them, and drove the enemy out of Phoenicia.

3 While these things were going on, a war broke out in Cyprus also, the actions in which were interwoven with the war we have just mentioned. 4 For in this island were nine populous cities, and under them were ranged the small towns which were suburbs of the
p355nine cities. Each of these cities had a king who governed the city and was subject to the King of the Persians. 5 All these kings in common agreement and in imitation of the Phoenicians revolted, and having made preparations for the war, declared their own kingdoms independent. 6 Incensed at these actions, Artaxerxes wrote to Idrieus, despot of Caria, who had just acquired his office and was a friend and ally of the Persians by inheritance from his ancestors, to collect an infantry force and a navy to carry on a war with the kings in Cyprus. 7 Idrieus, after making ready immediately forty triremes and eight thousand mercenary soldiers, sent them to Cyprus, having placed in command as their generals Phocion the Athenian and Evagoras, who had in the former period been king in the island.58 So these two, having sailed to Cyprus, at once led their army against Salamis, the largest of the cities. Having set up a palisade and fortified the encampment, they began to besiege the Salaminians by land and also by sea. Since all the island had enjoyed peace for a long time and the territory was wealthy, the soldiers, who had possession of the open country, gathered much booty. 9 When word of their affluence got abroad, many soldiers from the opposite coast of Syria and Cilicia flocked over voluntarily in the hope of gain. Finally, after the army with Evagoras and Phocion had been doubled in size, the kings throughout Cyprus fell into a state of great anxiety and terror.

p357
Such was the situation in Cyprus.

431 After this the King of the Persians, who had begun his journey from Babylon, marched with his army against Phoenicia.6 The ruler of Sidon, Tennes,7 who was informed of the great size of the Persian army and thought that the insurgents were incapable of fighting against it, decided to provide for his personal safety. 2 Accordingly, without the knowledge of the people of Sidon, he sent the most faithful of his own henchmen, Thettalion, to Artaxerxes with the promise that he would betray Sidon to him, would assist him in vanquishing Egypt, and would render him great service, since he was acquainted with the topography of Egypt and knew accurately the landing-places along the Nile. 3 The King on hearing from Thettalion these particulars was extremely pleased and said that he would free Tennes of the charges relative to the revolt, and he promised to give him rich rewards if he performed all that he had agreed upon. But when Thettalion added that Tennes wished him also to confirm his promise by giving his right hand, thereupon the King, flying into a rage at the thought that he was not trusted, handed Thettalion over to his attendants and gave orders to take off his head. 4 But when, as Thettalion was being led off to his punishment, he simply said: "You, O King, will do as you please, but Tennes, though he is able to achieve complete success, since you refuse the pledge, will assuredly not perform any of his promises," the
p359King, hearing what he said, again changed his mind and recalling the attendants directed them to release Thettalion, and then he gave him his right hand, which is the surest pledge amongst the Persians. Thettalion accordingly returned to Sidon and reported what had happened to Tennes without the knowledge of the people of Sidon.

441 The Persian King, accounting it a matter of great importance, in view of his former defeat,8 to overthrow Egypt, dispatched envoys to the greatest cities of Greece requesting them to join the Persians in the campaign against the Egyptians.9 Now the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians replied that they continued to observe their friendship for the Persians, but were opposed to sending troops as allies. 2 But the Thebans, choosing Lacrates as general, dispatched him with a thousand hoplites. And the Argives sent three thousand men; they did not, however, choose a general themselves, but when the King requested Nicostratus specifically as general, they concurred. 3 Now Nicostratus was good both in action and in counsel, but there was madness mingled with his intelligence; for since he excelled in bodily strength, he would imitate Heracles when on a campaign by wearing a lion's skin and carrying a club in battle. 4 Following the example of these states, the Greeks who inhabited the sea-coast of Asia Minor dispatched six thousand men, making the total number of Greeks who served as allies ten thousand. Before their arrival the Persian King, after he had traversed Syria
p361and reached Phoenicia, encamped not far from Sidon. 5 As for the Sidonians, while the King had been slow to move, they attended assiduously to the preparation of food, armour, and missiles. Likewise they had encompassed their city with huge triple ditches and constructions of lofty walls. 6 They had also an ample number of citizen soldiers well trained in exercises and hard work and of superior bodily condition and strength. In wealth and in other resources the city far excelled the other cities of Phoenicia and, most important of all, it had more than a hundred triremes and quinqueremes.

451 Tennes, having confided his scheme for betrayal to Mentor10 the commander of the mercenaries from Egypt, left him to guard a portion of the city and to act in concert with his agents handling the betrayal, while he himself, with five hundred men, marched out of the city, pretending that he was going to a common meeting of the Phoenicians, and he took with him the most distinguished of the citizens, to the number of one hundred, in the rôle of advisers. 2 When they had come near the King he suddenly seized the hundred and delivered them to Artaxerxes. The King, welcoming him as a friend, had the hundred shot as instigators of the revolt, and when five hundred of the leading Sidonians carrying olive branches approached him, he summoned Tennes and asked him if he was able to deliver the city to him; for he was very eager not to receive Sidon on the terms of a capitulation, since his aim was to overwhelm the Sidonians with a merciless disaster and to strike terror into the
p363other cities by their punishment. 3 When Tennes assured him that he would deliver up the city, the King, maintaining his merciless rage, had all five hundred shot down while still holding the supplicant branches. Thereupon Tennes, approaching the mercenaries from Egypt, prevailed upon them to lead him and the King inside the walls. 4 So Sidon by this base betrayal was delivered into the power of the Persians; and the King, believing that Tennes was of no further use to him, put him to death.11 But the people of Sidon before the arrival of the King burned all their ships so that none of the townspeople should be able by sailing out secretly to gain safety for himself. But when they saw the city and the walls captured and swarming with many myriads of soldiers, they shut themselves, their children, and their women up in their houses and consumed them all in flames. 5 They say that those who were then destroyed in the fire, including the domestics, amounted to more than forty thousand. After this disaster had befallen the Sidonians and the whole12 city together with its inhabitants had been obliterated by the fire, the King sold that funeral pyre for many talents, 6 for as a result of the prosperity of the householders there was found a vast amount of silver and gold melted down by the fire. So the disasters which had overtaken Sidon had such an
p365ending, and the rest of the cities, panic-stricken, went over to the Persians.

7 Shortly before this time Artemisia, who had held despotic rule over Caria, passed away after ruling two years, and Idrieus,13 her brother, succeeded to the despotism and ruled seven years. 8 In Italy the Romans made an armistice with the people of Praeneste, and a treaty with the Samnites, and they put to death two hundred sixty inhabitants of Tarquinii14 at the hands of the public executioners in the Forum. 9 In Sicily Leptines and Callippus, the Syracusans then in power, took by siege Rhegium,15 which was garrisoned by the tyrant Dionysius the younger, ejected the garrison, and restored to the people of Rhegium their independence.

461 When Apollodorus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Marcus Valerius and Gaius Sulpicius. During their term of office, in Cyprus, while the people of Salamis were being besieged by Evagoras16 and Phocion, the rest of the cities all became subject to the Persians, and Pnytagoras,17 the king of Salamis, alone continued to endure the siege. 2 Now Evagoras was endeavouring to recover his ancestral rule over the Salaminians and through the help of the King of the Persians to be restored to his kingship. But later, when he had been falsely accused to Artaxerxes and the King was backing Pnytagoras,
p367Evagoras, after having given up hope of his restoration, and made his defence on the accusations brought against him, was accorded another and higher command in Asia. 3 But then when he had misgoverned his province he fled again to Cyprus and, arrested there, paid the penalty. Pnytagoras, who had made willing submission to the Persians, continued thenceforth to rule unmolested as king in Salamis.

4 After the capture of Sidon and the arrival of his allies from Argos and Thebes and the Greek cities in Asia, the King of the Persians assembled all his army and advanced against Egypt. 5 As he came to the great marsh where are the Barathra or Pits, as they are called, he lost a portion of his army through his lack of knowledge of the region. Since we have discoursed earlier on the nature of the marsh18 and the peculiar mishaps which occur there in the first Book of our History, we shall refrain from making a second statement about it. 6 Having passed through the Barathra with his army the King came to Pelusium. This is a city at the first mouth at which the Nile debouches into the sea. Now the Persians encamped at a distance of forty stades from Pelusium, but the Greeks close to the town itself. 7 The Egyptians, since the Persians had given them plenty of time for preparation, had already fortified well all the mouths of the Nile, particularly the one near Pelusium because it was the first and the most advantageously situated. 8 Five thousand soldiers garrisoned the position, Philophron the Spartiate being the general in command.
p369The Thebans, being eager to show themselves the best of the Greeks that were taking part in the expedition, were the first to venture, unsupported and recklessly, to make a crossing through a narrow and deep canal. 9 They had passed through it and were assaulting the walls when the garrison of Pelusium sallied forth from the city and engaged in battle with the Thebans. As the engagement proved severe because of the intense rivalry on both sides, they spent the whole of that day in the battle and were separated only by the night.

471 Then on the next day, as the king divided the Greek army into three contingents, each contingent had a Greek general, and stationed along beside him a Persian officer, a man preferred above the others for valour and loyalty. 2 Now the forward position was held by the Boeotians, who had as general the Theban Lacrates and as Persian officer Rhosaces. The latter was a descendant of one of the seven Persians who deposed the Magi;19 he was satrap of Ionia and Lydia, and he was accompanied by a large force of cavalry and no small body of infantry composed of barbarians. 3 Next in line was the Argive contingent of which Nicostratus was general and with him as Persian colleague Aristazanes. The latter was an usher20 of the King and the most faithful of his friends after Bagoas; and assigned to him were five thousand élite soldiers and eighty triremes. 4 Of the third contingent Mentor was general, he who had betrayed
p371Sidon, having the mercenaries that were formerly under his command; and associated with him on the expedition was Bagoas, whom the King trusted most, a man exceptionally daring and impatient of propriety; and he had the King's Greeks and an ample force of barbarians and not a few ships. 5 The King himself with the remainder of the army held himself in reserve for the whole operation.21 Such being the distribution of the army on the Persian side, the king of the Egyptians, Nectanebôs, was dismayed neither by the multitude of the enemy nor by the general disposition of the Persian forces, though his numbers were far inferior. 6 In fact he had twenty thousand Greek mercenaries, about the same number of Libyans, and sixty thousand Egyptians of the caste known amongst them as "The Warriors", and besides these an incredible number of river-boats suited for battles and engagements on the Nile. 7 The bank of the river facing Arabia had been strongly fortified by him, being a region crowded with towns and, besides, all intersected by walls and ditches. Although he had ready also all the other preparations which were adequate for the war, yet because of his own poor judgement he met with complete disaster.

481 The reason for his defeat was chiefly his lack of experience as a general and the fact that the Persians had been defeated by him in the previous expedition. 2 For he had then had as his generals men who were distinguished and superior both in valour
p373and in sagacity in the art of war, Diophantus22 the Athenian and Lamius the Spartan, and it was because of them that he had been victorious in all respects. At this time, however, since he supposed that he himself was a competent general, he would not share the command with anyone and so, because of his inexperience, was unable to execute any of the moves that would have been useful in this war. 3 Now when he had provided the towns here and there with considerable garrisons, he maintained a strict guard there, and having in his own command thirty thousand Egyptians, five thousand Greeks, and half the Libyans, he held them in reserve to defend the most exposed approaches. Such being the disposition of the forces on both sides, Nicostratus, the general of the Argives, having as guides Egyptians whose children and wives were held as hostages by the Persians, sailed by with his fleet through a canal into a hidden district and, disembarking his men and fortifying a site for a camp, encamped there. 4 The mercenaries of the Egyptians who were keeping a strict guard in the neighbourhood, observing the presence of the enemy, straightway made a sally in number not less than seven thousand. 5 Cleinius the Coan, their commander, drew up his force in line of battle. And when those who had sailed in were drawn up opposite, a sharp battle ensued in the course of which the Greeks serving with the Persians, fighting brilliantly, slew the general Cleinius and cut down more than five thousand of the rest of the soldiers. 6 Nectanebôs the Egyptian king, on hearing of the loss of his men, was terror-stricken, thinking that the rest of the Persian army
p375also would easily cross the river. 7 Assuming that the enemy with their entire army would come to the very gates of Memphis, he decided first and foremost to take precautionary measures to protect the city. Accordingly he returned to Memphis with the army he had retained and began to prepare for this siege.

491 Lacrates the Theban, who was in command of the first contingent, hastened to begin the siege of Pelusium. First he diverted the stream of the canal to other directions, then when the channel had become dry he filled it with earth and brought siege engines against the city. When a large portion of the walls fell, the garrison in Pelusium quickly built others to oppose the advance and reared huge towers of wood. 2 The battle for the walls continued for several days running and at first the Greeks in Pelusium vigorously warded off the besiegers; but when they learned of the king's withdrawal to Memphis they were so terror-stricken that they sent envoys to arrange for a settlement. 3 Since Lacrates gave them pledges backed by oaths to the effect that if they surrendered Pelusium they would all be conveyed back to Greece with whatever they could carry on their backs, they delivered over the citadel. 4 After this Artaxerxes dispatched Bagoas with barbarian soldiers to take over Pelusium, and the soldiers, arriving at this place as the Greeks were issuing forth, seized upon many of the articles they were carrying out. 5 The victims of this injustice in their anger called loudly upon the gods who were guardians of their oaths, whereupon Lacrates became incensed, put the barbarians to flight, slaying a number of them, thus
p377standing by the Greeks, the sufferers from the broken pledges. 6 But when Bagoas fled to the King and brought accusation against Lacrates, Artaxerxes decided that Bagoas' contingent had met with their just deserts and put to death the Persians who were responsible for the robbery. So it was in this fashion that Pelusium was delivered over to the Persians.

7 Mentor, who was in command of the third contingent, captured Bubastus and many other cities and made them subject to the King by a single strategic device. For since all the cities were garrisoned by two peoples, Greeks and Egyptians, Mentor passed the word around to the soldiers that King Artaxerxes had decided to treat magnanimously those who voluntarily surrendered their cities, but to mete out the same penalty to those who were overcome by force as he had imposed on the people of Sidon; and he instructed those who guarded the gates to give free passage to any who wished to desert from the other side. 8 Accordingly, since the captured Egyptians were leaving the barracks without hindrance, the aforementioned word was quickly scattered amongst all the cities of Egypt. Immediately, therefore, the mercenaries were everywhere at variance with the natives and the cities were filled with strife; for each side was privately endeavouring to surrender its posts and nursing private hopes of gain in exchange for this favour; and this is what actually happened in the case of the city of Bubastus first.

501 When, namely, the forces of Mentor and Bagoas were encamped near Bubastus, the Egyptians, without the knowledge of the Greeks, sent an envoy
p379to Bagoas offering to deliver the city if he would consent to their safety. 2 The Greeks, having knowledge of the mission, overtook the envoy and by dire threats extracted the truth, whereat they were much enraged and attacked the Egyptians, slew some, wounded others, and herded the rest into a quarter of the city. 3 The discomfited men, having notified Bagoas of what had taken place, asked him to come with all speed and receive the city from themselves. But the Greeks had been privately treating with Mentor, who gave them secret encouragement, as soon as Bagoas should enter Bubastus, to attack the barbarians. 4 Later on, when Bagoas with the Persians was entering the city without the sanction of the Greeks and a portion of his men had got inside, the Greeks suddenly closed the gates and attacked those who were inside the walls, and, having slain all the men, took Bagoas himself prisoner. 5 The latter, seeing that his hopes of safety lay in Mentor, besought him to spare his life and promised in future to do nothing without his advice. 6 Mentor, who now prevailed upon the Greeks to set Bagoas free and to arrange the surrender through himself, won credit himself for his success, but, having become responsible for Bagoas' life, he made an agreement with him for common action, and after an exchange of pledges on this matter kept the agreement faithfully till the end of his life. 7 The result of this was that these two by their co‑operation in the service of the King attained later on to the greatest power of all the friends and relatives
p381at Artaxerxes' court. In fact Mentor, having been appointed to the chief command in the coastal districts of Asia, performed great services to the King in gathering mercenaries from Greece and sending them to Artaxerxes, and in the course of his activities administering all his duties courageously and loyally. 8 As for Bagoas, after he had administered all the King's affairs in the upper satrapies,23 he rose to such power because of his partnership with Mentor that he was master of the kingdom, and Artaxerxes did nothing without his advice. And after Artaxerxes' death he designated in every case the successor to the throne and enjoyed all the functions of kingship save the title. But of these matters we shall record the details in their proper chronological sequence.

511 At the time under consideration, after the surrender of Bubastus, the remaining cities, terror-stricken, were delivered to the Persians by capitulation. But King Nectanebôs, while still tarrying in Memphis and perceiving the trend of the cities toward betrayal, did not dare risk battles for his dominion. So giving up hope of his kingship and taking with him the greater part of his possessions, he fled into Aethiopia. 2 Artaxerxes, after taking over all Egypt and demolishing the walls of the most important cities, by plundering the shrines gathered a vast quantity of silver and gold, and he carried off the inscribed records from the ancient temples, which later on
p383Bagoas returned to the Egyptian priests on the payment of huge sums by way of ransom. 3 Then when he had rewarded the Greeks who had accompanied him on the campaign with lavish gifts, each according to his deserts, he dismissed them to their native lands; and, having installed Pherendates as satrap of Egypt, he returned with his army to Babylon, bearing many possessions and spoils and having won great renown by his successes.

521 When Callimachus was archon at Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Gaius Marcius and Publius Valerius. During their term of office Artaxerxes, seeing that Mentor the general had performed great services for him in the war against the Egyptians, advanced him over and above his other friends. 2 Esteeming him worthy of honour for his gallant actions, he gave him a hundred talents of silver and also the best of expensive decorations, and he appointed him satrap of the Asiatic coast and placed him in charge of the war against the rebels, having designated him general in supreme command. 3 And since Mentor was related24 to Artabazus and Memnon, both of whom had warred against the Persians in the preceding period25 and at the time now under consideration were fugitives from Asia residing at the court of Philip, he requested the King and prevailed upon him to dismiss the charges against them. Immediately afterwards he also summoned them both to come to his presence
p385with all their families; 4 for there had been born to Artabazus by the sister of Mentor and Memnon eleven sons and ten daughters.26 And Mentor was so enchanted with the large number of children born to the marriage that he promoted the lads, giving them the most distinguished commands in the armed forces. 5 He made his first campaign against Hermias27 the tyrant of Atarneus, who had revolted are the King and was master of many fortresses and cities. 6 Having promised Hermias that he would prevail upon the King to dismiss the charges against him too, he met him at a conference and then, playing him false, arrested him. After getting possession of his signet-ring and writing to the cities that a reconciliation had been effected with the King through Mentor's intervention, he sealed the letters with Hermias' ring, and sent the letters and with them agents who were to take over the districts. 7 The populations of the cities, trusting the documents and being quite content to accept the peace, all surrendered their fortresses and cities. Now that Mentor through deception had quickly and without risk recovered the towns of the rebels, he won great favour with the King, who concluded that he was capable of performing the duties of general realistically. 8 Similarly with regard to the other commanders
p387who were at odds with the Persians, whether by force or by stratagem, he soon subdued them all.

And this was the state of affairs in Asia.

9 In Europe Philip, the Macedonian king, marched against the cities of Chalcidicê, took the fortress of Zereia28 by siege and razed it. He then intimidated some of the other towns and compelled them to submit. Then coming against Pherae in Thessaly he expelled Peitholaüs,29 who was in control of the city. 10 While these things were going on, there occurred in Pontus the death of Spartacus king of Pontus after a rule of five years. His brother Paerisades30 succeeded to the throne and reigned for thirty-eight years.

531 When this year had elapsed, at Athens Theophilus was archon, and at Rome Gaius Sulpicius and Gaius Quintius were elected as consuls, and the one hundred eighth celebration of the Olympian games was held at which Polycles of Cyrenê won the stadion race. 2 During their term of office Philip, whose aim was to subdue the cities on the Hellespont, acquired without a battle Mecyberna31 and Toronê32 by treasonable surrender, and then, having taken the field with a large army against the most important of the cities in this region, Olynthus, he first defeated the Olynthians in two battles and confined them to the defence of their walls; then in the continuous assaults that he made he lost many of his men in encounters at the walls,
p389but finally bribed the chief officials of the Olynthians, Euthycrates and Lasthenes,33 and captured Olynthus through their treachery. 3 After plundering it and enslaving the inhabitants he sold both men and property as booty. By so doing he procured large sums for prosecuting the war and intimidated the other cities that were opposed to him. Having rewarded with appropriate gifts such soldiers as had behaved gallantly in the battle and distributed a sum of money to men of influence in the cities, he gained many tools ready to betray their countries. Indeed he was wont to declare that it was far more by the use of gold than of arms that he had enlarged his kingdom.

541 Since the Athenians viewed with alarm the rising power of Philip, they came to the assistance of any people34 who were attacked by the king, by sending envoys to the cities and urging them to watch over their independence and punish with death those citizens who were bent on treason, and they promised them all that they would fight as their allies, and, after publicly declaring themselves the king's enemies, engaged in an out-and-out war against Philip. 2 The man who more than any other spurred them on to take up the cause of Hellas was the orator Demosthenes, the most eloquent of the Greeks of those times. Even his city was, however, unable to restrain its citizens from their urge toward treason, such was the crop,35p391as it were, of traitors that had sprung up at that time throughout Hellas. 3 Hence the anecdote that when Philip wished to take a certain city with unusually strong fortifications and one of the inhabitants remarked that it was impregnable, he asked if even gold could not scale its walls.364 For he had learned from experience that what could not be subdued by force of arms could easily be vanquished by gold. So, organizing bands of traitors in the several cities by means of bribes and calling those who accepted his gold "guests" and "friends," by his evil communications he corrupted the morals of the people.37

551 After the capture of Olynthus, he celebrated the Olympian festival38 to the gods in commemoration of his victory, and offered magnificent sacrifices; and he organized a great festive assembly at which he held splendid competitions and thereafter invited many of the visiting strangers to his banquets. 2 In the course of the carousals he joined in numerous conversations, presenting to many guests drinking cups39 as he proposed the toasts, awarding gifts to a considerable number, and graciously making such handsome promises to them all that he won over a large number to crave friendship with him.

3 At one time in the course of the drinking bout, noticing Satyrus,40 the actor, with a gloomy look on his face, Philip asked him why he alone disdained to
p393partake of the friendly courtesy he offered; and when Satyrus said that he wished to obtain a boon from him but he feared lest, if he disclosed the request he had decided upon, he should be refused, the king, exceedingly pleased, affirmed that he granted forthwith any favour he might ask. He replied that there were two virgin daughters of a friend of his who were of marriageable age among the captive women; these girls he wished to obtain, not in order to derive any profit if he were granted the gift, but to give them both a dowry and husbands and would not permit them to suffer any indignity unworthy of their years. 4 Thereupon Philip gladly acceded to his request and immediately made a present of the girls to Satyrus. And by dispensing many other benefactions and gifts of every kind he reaped returns many times greater than his favour; for many who were incited by hopes of his beneficence outstripped one another in devoting themselves to Philip and in delivering their countries to him.

561 When Themistocles was archon at Athens, at Rome Gaius Cornelius and Marcus Popilius succeeded to the consular office. During their term of office the Boeotians, after sacking much of the Phocian territory about the city named Hya,41 defeated their enemies and slew about seventy of them. 2 After this the Boeotians, having come to grips near Coroneia with the Phocians, were defeated and lost many men. When the Phocians now seized several cities of considerable size in Boeotia, the Boeotians took the field and
p395destroyed the grain in enemy territory, but were defeated on the return journey. 3 While these things were going on, Phalaecus, the general of the Phocians, who was accused of stealing many of the sacred properties, was removed from his command.42 Three generals having been chosen to replace him, Democrates, Callias, and Sophanes, an investigation into the sacred property took place and the Phocians called upon those who had administered it to render an accounting. The man who had been in charge of most of it was Philon. 4 Since he was unable to render a proper accounting, he was adjudged guilty, and after being tortured by the generals disclosed the names of his accomplices in the theft, while he himself, after being subjected to the utmost torments, obtained the kind of death that suited his impiety. 5 Those who had diverted the properties to their own use restored whatever balance they still possessed of the stolen property and were themselves put to death as temple-robbers. Of the generals who had been in office previously, the first to hold the office, Philomelus, had kept his hands off the dedications,43 but the second, named Onomarchus, brother of Philomelus, squandered much of the god's money, while the third, Phaÿllus, the brother of Onomarchus, when he became general, struck into coin a large number of the dedications in order to pay the mercenaries. 6 For he coined for currency one hundred twenty gold bricks which had been dedicated by Croesus44 king of the Lydians weighing two talents each, and three hundred sixty golden goblets weighing two minae each, and
p397golden statues of a lion and of a woman, weighing in all thirty talents of gold, so that the sum total of gold that was coined into money, referred to the standard of silver, is found to be four thousand talents, while of the silver offerings, those dedicated by Croesus and all the others, all three generals had spent more than six thousand talents' worth, and if to these were added the gold dedications, the sum surpassed ten thousand talents. 7 Some of the historians say that the pillaged property was not less than the sums acquired by Alexander45 in the treasure chambers of the Persians. The generals on the staff of Phalaecus took steps even to dig up the temple, because some one said that there was a treasure chamber in it containing much gold and silver, and they zealously dug up the ground about the hearth and tripod. The man who gave information about the treasure offered as witness the most famous and ancient of poets Homer, who says in a certain passage:46

"Nor all the wealth beneath the stony floor that lies

Where Phoebus, archer god, in rocky Pytho dwells."

8 But as the soldiers attempted to dig about the tripod, great earthquakes occurred and roused fear in the hearts of the Phocians, and since the gods clearly indicated in advance the punishment they would visit upon the temple-robbers, the soldiers desisted from their efforts. The leader of this sacrilege, the aforementioned Philon, was promptly punished as he deserved for his crime against the god.

571 Although the loss of the sacred property was ascribed entirely to the Phocians, the Athenians and
p399the Lacedaemonians, who were fighting on the side of the Phocians and received pay out of all proportion to the number of soldiers they sent out, shared in the seizure. 2 This period brought it to pass for the Athenians that they sinned against the divine powers to such an extent that, shortly before the Delphian affair,47 as Iphicrates was tarrying near Corcyra with a naval force and Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse had shipped to Olympia and to Delphi statues cunningly wrought in gold and ivory, Iphicrates, chancing to fall in with the ships that were conveying these statues, seized them and sent word to the Athenian people inquiring what he should do with them; whereat the Athenians instructed him not to raise questions about what concerned the gods but to give his attention to seeing that his soldiers were well fed. 3 Now Iphicrates, obeying the decision of his country, sold as booty the works of art belonging to the gods. The tyrant, filled with rage at the Athenians, wrote them a letter of the following tenor:

"Dionysius to the Senate and Assembly of the Athenians: It is inappropriate to wish you to do well since you are committing sacrilege48 against the gods both on land and on sea, and, having made off with the statues which had been sent by us to be dedicated to the gods, you have turned them into coin and have committed impiety toward the greatest of the gods, Apollo, whose abode is Delphi, and Olympian Zeus."

4 Such now was the conduct of the Athenians toward
p401the divine powers, and that too though they boasted that Apollo was their tutelary god and progenitor.49 And the Lacedaemonians, though they had consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi and through it come to possess their constitution50 which is admired of all the world, though even now they still interrogate the god on matters of supreme importance,51 had the effrontery to become partners in crime of those who had pillaged the sanctuary.

581 In Boeotia the Phocians, who held three strongly fortified cities, Orchomenus, Coroneia, and Corsiae,52 conducted from these their campaign against the Boeotians. Being well supplied with mercenaries they pillaged the country and in their thrusts and engagements proved superior to the inhabitants of the place. 2 As a consequence the Boeotians, feeling the pinch of war and the loss of great numbers of their men, but having no financial resources, sent envoys to Philip with a request for assistance. 3 The king, pleased to see their discomfiture and disposed to humble the Boeotians' pride over Leuctra, dispatched few men, being on his guard against one thing only — lest he be thought to be indifferent to the pillaging of the oracle. 4 As the Phocians were engaged in building a fortress near the place named Abae,53 at which is a holy shrine of Apollo, the Boeotians took the field against them. Some of the Phocians straightway fled to the nearest cities and dispersed, while others took refuge in the
p403temple of Apollo and perished to the number of five hundred. 5 Now many other divine visitations fell to the lot of the Phocians about this period, and in particular the one that I am about to relate. The men who had taken refuge in the temple supposed that their lives would be saved through the intervention of the gods, but on the contrary through some divine Providence54 they met with the punishment temple-robbers well deserve. 6 For there was a quantity of rushes about the temple, and a fire had been left behind in the tents of the men who had fled, with the result that the rushes caught fire and such a great conflagration was touched off so miraculously that the temple was consumed and the Phocians who had fled to it for refuge were burned alive. Indeed it became apparent that the gods do not extend to temple-robbers the protection generally accorded to suppliants.

591 When Archias was archon at Athens, the Romans elected Marcus Aemilius and Titus Quinctius consuls.55 During their term of office the Phocian War, after lasting for ten56 years, was terminated in the following manner. Since the Boeotians and the Phocians were utterly dejected by the length of the war, the Phocians dispatched envoys to Lacedaemon asking for reinforcements, and the Spartans sent a thousand hoplites in charge of whom as general they placed their king Archidamus. 2 Similarly the Boeotians sent an embassy to Philip proposing an alliance, and Philip, after taking over the Thessalians, entered Locris
p405with a large army. And when he had overtaken Phalaecus, who had again been granted the generalship and had the main body of the mercenaries, Philip prepared to decide the war by a pitched battle. But Phalaecus, who was tarrying in Nicaea57 and saw that he was no match for Philip, sent ambassadors to the king to treat for an armistice. 3 An agreement was reached whereby Phalaecus with his men should depart whithersoever he wished, and he then, under terms of the truce, withdrew to the Peloponnese with his mercenaries to the number of eight thousand,58 but the Phocians, whose hopes were now completely crushed, surrendered to Philip. 4 The king, having without a battle unexpectedly terminated the Sacred War, sat in council with the Boeotians and the Thessalians. As a result he decided to call a meeting of the Amphictyonic Council and leave to it the final decision on all the issues at stake.

601 The members of the Council then passed a decree admitting Philip and his descendants to the Amphictyonic Council and according him two votes which formerly had been held by the Phocians,59 now defeated in war. They also voted that the three cities60p407in the possession of the Phocians should have their walls removed and that the Phocians should have no participation in the shrine of Delphi or in the Council of the Amphictyons; that they should not be permitted to acquire either horses or arms until they should have repaid to the god the monies they had pillaged; that those of the Phocians who had fled and any others who had had a share in the robbing the sanctuary were to be under a curse and subject to arrest wherever they might be; 2 that all the cities of the Phocians were to be razed and the men moved to villages, no one of which should have more than fifty houses, and the villages were to be not less than a stade distant from one another; that the Phocians were to possess their territory and to pay each year to the god a tribute of sixty talents until they should have paid back the sums entered in the registers at the time of the pillaging of the sanctuary. Philip, furthermore, was to hold the Pythian games together with the Boeotians and Thessalians,61 since the Corinthians had shared with the Phocians in the sacrilege committed against the god. 3 The Amphictyons and Philip were to hurl the arms of the Phocians and their mercenaries down the crags and burn what remained of them and to sell the horses. In similar tenor the Amphictyons laid down regulations for the custody of the oracle and other matters affecting due respect for the gods and the general peace and concord of the Greeks. 4 Thereafter, when Philip had helped the Amphictyons give effect to their decrees and had dealt courteously
p409with all, he returned to Macedonia, having not merely won for himself a reputation piety and excellent generalship, but having also made important preparations for the aggrandizement that was destined to be his. 5 For he was ambitious to be designated general of Hellas in supreme command and as such to prosecute the war against the Persians. And this was what actually came to pass. But these events we shall record severally in their proper periods; we shall now proceed with the thread of our narrative.

611 But first it is only right, so we think, to record the punishment which was visited by the gods upon those who had committed the outrage on the oracle. For, speaking generally, it was not merely the perpetrators of the sacrilege but all persons who had the slightest connection with the sacrilege that were hounded by the inexorable retribution sent of Heaven. 2 In fact the man who first schemed for the seizure of the shrine, Philomelus, in a crisis of the war hurled himself over a cliff,62 while his brother Onomarchus, after taking over the command of his people, now become desperate, was cut to pieces in a battle in Thessaly, along with the Phocians and mercenaries of his command, and crucified.633 The third in succession and the one who coined into money most of the dedications, Phaÿllus,64 fell ill of a lingering disease and so was unable even to secure a quick release from his punishment. And the last of all, Phalaecus, who had gathered the remnants of the pillaged property, passed his life for a considerable length of time wandering about in great fear and danger, though it was not Heaven's intent that he should be happier than those who participated with him in the sacrilege, but that
p411by being tortured longer and by becoming known to many for his misfortunes, his sad fate might become notorious. 4 For when he had taken flight with his mercenaries following the agreement,65 he first sojourned in the Peloponnese, supporting his men on the last remnants of the pillaging, but later he hired vessels prepared for the voyage to Italy and Sicily, thinking that in these regions he would either seize some city or obtain service for pay, for a war was in progress, as it chanced, between the Lucanians and the Tarentines. To his fellow passengers he had been summoned by the people of Italy and Sicily.

621 When he had sailed out of the harbour and was on the high seas, some of the soldiers who were in the largest ship, on which Phalaecus himself was a passenger, conferred with one another because they suspected that no one had sent for them. For they could see on board no officers sent by the peoples who were soliciting aid, and the voyage in prospect was not short, but long and dangerous. 2 Accordingly, since they not only distrusted what they had been told but also feared the overseas campaign, they conspired together, above all those who had commands among the mercenary troops. Finally drawing their swords and menacing Phalaecus and the pilot they forced them to reverse their course. And when those who were sailing in the other boats also did the same, they
p413put in again at a Peloponnesian harbour. 3 Then they gathered at the Malean promontory in Laconia and there found Cnossian envoys who had sailed in from Crete to enlist mercenaries. After these envoys had conversed with Phalaecus and the commanders and had offered rather high pay, they all sailed off with them. Having made port at Cnossus in Crete, they immediately took by storm the city called Lyctus.664 But to the Lyctians, who had been expelled from their native land, there appeared a miraculous and sudden reinforcement. For at about the same time the people of Tarentum were engaged in prosecuting a war against the Lucanians and had sent to the Lacedaemonians, who were the stock of their ancestors, envoys soliciting help, whereupon the Spartans, who were willing to join them because of their relationship, quickly assembled an army and navy and as general in command of it appointed King Archidamus. But as they were about to set sail for Italy, a request came from the Lyctians to help them first. Consenting to this, the Lacedaemonians sailed to Crete, defeated the mercenaries and restored to the Lyctians their native land.

631 After this Archidamus sailed to Italy and joined forces with the Tarentines but lost his life fighting gallantly in battle. He was praised for his ability as a general and for his conduct on the whole, though in the matter of the Phocian alliance alone he was severely criticized as the one who was chiefly responsible for the seizure of Delphi. 2 Now Archidamus was king of the Lacedaemonians for twenty-three years, and Agis
p415his son succeeded to the throne and ruled for fifteen67 years. After the death of Archidamus his mercenaries, who had participated in plundering the shrine, were shot down by the Lucanians, whereas Phalaecus, now that he had been driven out of Lyctus, attempted to besiege Cydonia. 3 He had constructed siege engines and was bringing them up against the city when lightning descended and these structures were consumed by the divine fire, and many of the mercenaries in attempting to save the engines perished in the flames. Among them was the general Phalaecus. 4 But some say that he offended one of the mercenaries and was slain by him. The mercenaries who survived were taken into their service by Eleian exiles, were then transported to the Peloponnese, and with these exiles were engaged in war against the people of Elis.685 When the Arcadians joined the Eleians in the struggle and defeated the exiles in battle, many of the mercenaries were slain and the remainder, about four thousand, were taken captive. After the Arcadians and the Eleians had divided up the prisoners, the Arcadians sold as booty all who had been apportioned to them, while the Eleians executed their portion because of the outrage committed against the oracle.

641 Now the participants in the sacrilege met in this fashion with their just retribution from the deity. And the most renowned cities because of their part
p417in the outrage were later defeated in war by Antipater,69 and lost at one and the same time their leadership and their freedom. 2 The wives of the Phocian commanders who had worn the gold necklaces taken from Delphi met with punishment befitting their impiety. For one of them who had worn the chain which had belonged to Helen of Troy sank to the shameful life of a courtesan and flung her beauty before any who chose wantonly to abuse it, and another, who put on the necklace of Eriphylê,70 had her house set on fire by her eldest son in a fit of madness and was burned alive in it. Thus those who had the effrontery to flout the deity met just retribution in the manner I have described at the hands of the gods, 3 while Philip who rallied to the support of the oracle added continually to his strength from that time on and finally because of his reverence for the gods was appointed commander of all Hellas and acquired for himself the largest kingdom in Europe.

Now that we have reported in sufficient detail the events of the Sacred war, we shall return to events of a different nature.

651 In Sicily71 the Syracusans, who were engaged in civil strife and were forced to live as slaves under many varied tyrannies, sent ambassadors to Corinth with the request that the Corinthians should dispatch to them as general a man who would administer their city and curb the ambitions of those who aimed to become tyrants. 2 The Corinthians, concluding that it
p419was only right to assist people who were offshoots of themselves,72 voted to send as general Timoleon, son of Timaenetus, a man of highest prestige amongst his fellow citizens for bravery and sagacity as a general and, in a word, splendidly equipped with every virtue. A peculiar coincidence befell him which contributed toward his being chosen to the generalship. 3 Timophanes, his brother, a man of outstanding wealth and effrontery amongst the Corinthians, had for some time past been clearly aiming at a tyranny and at the moment was winning the poor to his cause and laying up a store of suits of armour and parading about the market-place accompanied by a band of ruffians, not actually claiming to be tyrant but practising the arts of tyranny. 4 Timoleon, who was much averse to the rule of one man, first attempted to dissuade his brother from his overt attempt, but when the latter refused to heed and continued all the more his headstrong career, Timoleon, being unable by reasoning with him to make him mend his ways, put him to death as he was promenading in the market-place.735 A scuffle ensued and a mob of citizens came surging up stirred by the surprising character and the enormity of the deed, and dissension broke out. One side claimed that as the perpetrator of a kin-murder Timoleon should receive the punishment prescribed by the laws, whereas the other party asserted just the opposite, that they should applaud him as a tyrannicide. 6 When the senate met to deliberate in the
p421council chamber and the matter in dispute was referred to the session, Timoleon's personal enemies denounced him, while those more favourably inclined rallied to his cause and counselled letting him go free. 7 While the investigation was still unsettled there sailed into the harbour from Syracuse the ambassadors who, having made known their mission to the senate, requested them to dispatch with all speed the general they needed. 8 The session accordingly voted to send Timoleon and, in order to ensure the success of the project, they proposed a strange and amazing alternative to him. They affirmed categorically that if he ruled the Syracusans fairly, they adjudged him a tyrannicide, but if too ambitiously, a murderer of his brother.749 Timoleon, not so much in fear of the threat imposed on him by the senate as because of his native virtue, administered the government in Sicily fairly and profitably. For he subdued in war the Carthaginians, restored to their original state the Greek cities which had been razed by the barbarians, and made all Sicily independent; in a word, having found Syracuse and the other Greek cities depopulated when he took them over, he made them notably populous.

These matters, however, we shall record severally below in their proper periods; now we shall return to the thread of our narrative.

The Loeb Editor's Notes:

1
Beloch (Griechische Geschichte2, 3.1.483, note 1) suggests that these gifts were not made to the Boeotians for their "schönen Augen," but for help in the Egyptian expedition (cp. chap. 44.2).

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2
Diodorus has misplaced the conquest of Egypt by Ochus, which occurred in the year 344 or 343. He slurs over here a previous defeat of Ochus which probably belongs to this year (351/0) and is attested by chaps. 44.1,
48.1; Demosthenes,
15.11 f.; Isocrates, Philip, 101. In agreement with Beloch on this point (Griechische Geschichte2, 3.2.284-287) are Tarn, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.22-23 and Hall, ibid. 152-154. See Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, 430-441.

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3
Possibly Diodorus has Artaxerxes II (Mnemon) in mind (cp. Book 15.90 ff.), for both Demosthenes and Isocrates state that Ochus conducted in person the unsuccessful expedition.

12
Beloch doubts (Griechische Geschichte2, 3.1.535, note 2) if the catastrophe at Sidon could have been as complete as Diodorus reports, since Sidon twelve years later (at the time of Alexander) was a large powerful city. Cp. Arrian, Alexander, 2.20 ff.
and
Curtius, 4.1.15.

20
It was the duty of an usher to make announcements to the King, and introduce ambassadors of foreign nations and others who required an audience with the King. Only those seven who had slain the Magi were permitted to enter the royal presence ἄνευ εἰσαγγελέως (cp. Herod. 3.84).

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21
As an ἔφεδρος, the third pugilist or wrestler, who sat by to take on the winner; in this case as a reserve if the issue was at stake. Cp. chap. 48.3
ταῖς εὐκαιροτάταις τῶν εἰσβολῶν ἐφήδρευεν.

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22
Cp. Isocrates, Letters, 8.8. Diophantus was still absent from Athens at the time of this letter, 350 B.C.

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23
In the interior. Bagoas was commander of the King's bodyguard. He arranged the succession by the use of poison (cp. Book 17.5.3-4) and was himself its victim.

26
Some of their names are known (see P.‑W. Realencyclopädie, s.v. "Artabazus," 3).

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27
A philosopher, eunuch, and slave of Eubulus. Aristotle, who knew him through the Academy (cp. Plato, Epistle 6), lived with him, and after his death married his adopted daughter Pythias. The events of this chapter concerning the arrest of Hermias certainly occurred at a later date, since Aristotle is reported (Dionysius, Epist. ad Ammaeum, ch. 5) to have spent three years at the court of Hermias after the death of Plato. Tarn gives the date of Hermias' arrest as 342 (Cambridge Ancient History, 6.23).

35
See Demosthenes, 18.61: "In all the Greek states — not in some of them but in every one of them — it chanced that there had sprung up the most abundant crop of traitorous, venal, and profligate politicians ever known within the memory of mankind." (Vince & Vince, L. C. L.)

58
Cp. Demosthenes 19.230, who gives the figure 10,000 foot and 1000 horse. Diodorus omits all the details of the Peace of Philocrates and the embassy leading up to it. For
an account of this see Pickard-Cambridge, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.233 ff.

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59
For the reorganization of the votes in the Amphictyonic League see P.‑W. Realencyclopädie, 4.2681 ff., and Beloch, Griechische Geschichte2, 3.1.512, note 4; and Pickard-Cambridge, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.241.

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60
These seem to be the three Boeotian cities in the hands of the Phocians (cp. chaps. 56.2
and 58.1). The MSS. read "in the land of the Phocians" which is inconsistent with section 2 below and other accounts (e.g. Demosthenes, 19.325, where two of the towns mentioned, Orchomenus and Coroneia, are said to have been enslaved). (Cp. also
Pausanias, 10.3.)

66
An important Cretan city, neighbour of Cnossus and frequently engaged in war with Cnossus. The inhabitants of Lyctus called themselves colonists of Sparta; Aristotle, Politics, 1271 B28.

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67
Cp. chap. 88.4, where nine years are allotted to Agis, as also in
Book 17.63.4. The dates of the reigns are Archidamus III, 361-338; Agis II, 338-331. Agis fell in the battle of Megalopolis in the autumn of 331. The error of fifteen years seems to have arisen from the fact that in this passage (placed under year 346) Diodorus records the death of Archidamus
(which occurred in 338) and the succession of Agis. From 346 to 331 would give fifteen years. (For a full discussion of the date of the battle of Megalopolis in relation to Alexander's march see Beloch, 3.2 § 130; also Tarn, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.443-45.)

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68
Cp. Demosthenes, 19.260; Pausanias,
4.28.4
and 5.4.9. There seems to be no later reference in Diodorus to this war, which occurred about 343/2.

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69
Presumably refers to Antipater's invasion of the Peloponnese and the defeat of Agis, cp. Book 17.63.1-3
and 73.5-6, and also to the defeat of Athens after the Lamian War, cp. Book 18.18.1-6.

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70
Wife of Amphiaraüs. She was bribed by a necklace given her by Polyneices to induce her husband to take part in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraüs met his death and she was slain in revenge by her son Alcmaeon.

73
According to Plutarch the murder of Timophanes (not by Timoleon's own hand) occurred about twenty years before Timoleon's departure for Syracuse. Diodorus' account should be compared with
Plutarch's
and
Nepos'
Timoleon.

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74
Plutarch
(Timoleon, 7.2)
puts this in the mouth of one Telecleides speaking before the assembly (δῆμος), not the senate.

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